Conversations about Meher Baba

Nov 23, 2021 Late Night Chat with Jeff Wolverton, guest: Alan Talbot, live on Zoom

We have some informal chat after every arti, the "post-arti party"! But twice a week, Jeff Wolverton joins us for some serious mining of the spiritual depths. Join us for spontaneous chat, more readings, songs, quotes, you never know what treasures will be uncovered! Topic: Our guest is Alan Talbot Tonight our guest is Alan Talbot who will share his many colorful, humorous and insightful stories of being with Baba’s mandali and close ones over the years, including his times with some lesser known like Joseph and Kari Harb and Henry Kashouty. For decades, Alan and his wife Karen have generously hosted many of the intimate followers of Baba at their lovely home in the east bay of San Fransisco. I am sure we will hear some of his insightful exchanges with them that will be helpful in our own inner lives with Baba. Alan will also share his story of coming to Him. He is always open to questions about his experiences. In His love, JeffTo join the email list for Jeff's Chats, contact AngelaThis event was recorded live. To be first to be notified of a new video on this channel, please hit the red subscribe button, then the notifications bell. To join future live events, see www.babazoom.net. Please join our Facebook group: www.facebook.com/groups/meherbabafamily

Nov 21, 2021 Late Night Chat with Jeff Wolverton, focus: Mandali stories, live on Zoom

We have some informal chat after every arti, the "post-arti party"! But twice a week, Jeff Wolverton joins us for some serious mining of the spiritual depths. Join us for spontaneous chat, more readings, songs, quotes, you never know what treasures will be uncovered! Topic: Personal stories of the Baba’s mandali and close ones In our other chats, people have enjoyed hearing personal stories of being with Baba's mandali and close ones, and it is always invaluable to hear stories from Baba’s life and close ones that have touched us most. Baba’s mandali and close ones are ever-living examples, each in their own unique way, of lives dedicated to Him. Come and enjoy what others share. In His love, Jeff To join the email list for Jeff's Chats, contact AngelaThis event was recorded live. To be first to be notified of a new video on this channel, please hit the red subscribe button, then the notifications bell. To join future live events, see www.babazoom.net. Please join our Facebook group: www.facebook.com/groups/meherbabafamily

Nov 16, 2021 Late Night Chat with Jeff Wolverton, guest Laurent Weichberger: Surrender, live on Zoom

We have some informal chat after every arti, the "post-arti party"! But twice a week, Jeff Wolverton joins us for some serious mining of the spiritual depths. Join us for spontaneous chat, more readings, songs, quotes, you never know what treasures will be uncovered! Dear folks of Baba, By popular demand, I have asked Laurent Weichberger to join us again, this time to share with us about the challenge of surrendering to Baba, a subject he has written about in his latest book. In this book, Laurent has researched and found many invaluable quotes from Baba that are helpful in trying to understand what He means by surrender. Love and obedience culminate in surrender, and we have seen it demonstrated in the lives of the mandali. Baba has given us these helpful words: One who loves is the lover of the Beloved. One who obeys in the beloved of the Beloved. One who surrenders has no existence other than the Beloved. Laurent is always open to our questions, he welcomes discussion and the views of others on what surrender means and what it might look like when played out in our lives. I think you will find the session very enlightening on this intimate subject. In His love, JeffTo join the email list for Jeff's Chats, contact AngelaThis event was recorded live. To be first to be notified of a new video on this channel, please hit the red subscribe button, then the notifications bell. To join future live events, see www.babazoom.net. Please join our Facebook group: www.facebook.com/groups/meherbabafamily

Nov 14, 2021 Late Night Chat with Jeff Wolverton, topic: finding Baba in each other, live on Zoom

We have some informal chat after every arti, the "post-arti party"! But twice a week, Jeff Wolverton joins us for some serious mining of the spiritual depths. Join us for spontaneous chat, more readings, songs, quotes, you never know what treasures will be uncovered! Topic: The challenge of finding Baba in each other In 1956, Anita Putalik, in her interview with Baba in New York City, expressed her deep devotion to Jesus. Baba was very pleased with her love for Jesus, and then responded by saying, “You have made one big mistake in your spiritual life: You have put God in heaven, and until you find Him in evryone you meet, your religion will always be lopsided.” This became the theme of her life, finding God in each one, and she expressed this magnificently in her profession as a religious counselor and with us at the Center. With a dear friend of mine, we came up with these questions that might be helpful to explore:Remembering that famous claim: "I love humanity--it s people I can't stand": What comes to mind as a really challenging encounter with someone who gave you a hard time? (and maybe this is an ongoing situation.)In everyday life how do you deal with folks you need to get along with (neighbors, colleagues, employers, spouses, relatives, shopkeepers, medical practioners, et al.)? Even when--particularly when--they and you are not seeing eye-to-eye?How much of your day-to-day interactions with others are "on AUTOMATIC PILOT"? Where you behave ROUTINELY, perhaps due to OVERLOAD, too much going on, anxiety, or just plain HABIT?Do you think awareness, triggered by listening more, could help?What helps you to bring out the "better angels" of everyone's nature? Theirs & yours.Do some people come by this disposition, this openness, more easily than others? If so, can it be developed?What role can/does/could PATIENCE play in seeing Baba in others?What if the person has behaved like a scoundrel, and is still doing that? What then? How are we supposed to respond to such a person? What's the difference between "seeing Baba in" them, and MAKING EXCUSES for them? Do you find yourself continuing to accept abusive situations and behavior “in the name of love?” Is there a better way? Maybe keeping them at a safe distance and yet holding them in your heart.Compassion and empathy: how do they fit in here? What do we experience when we find Baba in others? Is this just another way of coming to ACCEPTANCE?Could “finding Baba in everyone I meet" be to delight in their company, a welcoming, loving acceptance of them, without necessarily knowing consciously that we are doing this? In His love, JeffTo join the email list for Jeff's Chats, contact AngelaThis event was recorded live. To be first to be notified of a new video on this channel, please hit the red subscribe button, then the notifications bell. To join future live events, see www.babazoom.net. Please join our Facebook group: www.facebook.com/groups/meherbabafamily

Nov 9, 2021 Late Night Chat with Jeff Wolverton, guest Laurent Weichberger, Live on Zoom

We have some informal chat after every arti, the "post-arti party"! But twice a week, Jeff Wolverton joins us for some serious mining of the spiritual depths. Join us for spontaneous chat, more readings, songs, quotes, you never know what treasures will be uncovered! Dear folks of Baba, Tonight our guest will be Laurent Weichberger who was very close with Don Stevens, one of Baba’s intimate followers. Don was drawn into Baba’s net in the late 1940s and spent many precious times with Him over the years. Laurent remembers Don sharing his many exchanges with Baba, especially about the inner life and the challenges of living a life devoted to Baba. Don was especially generous with his time, taking part in group discussions among Baba’s young followers, and he organized trips to places where Baba had been in Europe and in India. He was instrumental in getting God Speaks published in this country, and he wrote a number of books about Baba, including his book Listen, Humanity, which came out during Baba’s lifetime. It is a moving and detailed account of his time with Baba in 1955 in India. Laurent has written several books including ones on surrender and forgiveness and Baba’s message on drugs, and over the years he has given seminars on these subjects. Laurent is always open to questions. You will enjoy hearing about Don Stevens and his life with Baba.In His love, JeffTo join the email list for Jeff's Chats: contact AngelaMeher Baba’s last message on the alphabet board: “There is no reason at all for any of you to worry. Baba was, Baba is, and Baba will also be eternally existent. Severance of external relations does not mean the termination of internal connections. It was only for establishing the internal connections that the external contacts have been maintained till now. The time has now come for being bound in the chain of internal connections. HENCE EXTERNAL CONTACT IS NO LONGER NECESSARY. It is possible to establish the internal link by obeying Baba's orders. I give you all My blessings for strengthening these internal links.: I am always with you and I am not away from you. I was, am and will remain eternally with you, and it is for promoting this realization that I have severed external contact. This will enable all persons to realize Truth by being bound to each other with internal links. : Oh, My lovers! I love you all. It is only because of My love for My creation that I have descended on Earth. Let not your hearts be torn asunder by My declarations concerning the dropping of My body. On the contrary, accept My Divine Will cheerfully. You can never escape from Me. Even if you try to escape from Me, it is not possible to get rid of Me. Therefore have courage and be brave. : If you thus lose your heart, how will it be possible for you to fulfill the great task which I have entrusted to you? Be brave and spread MY MESSAGE OF LOVE far and wide to all quarters, in order to fulfill My Divine Will. Let the words 'BABA, BABA' come forth from every nook and corner of the world and from the mouth of every child, and let their ignorance be reduced to ashes by the burning flame of My Love. : Come together in order to fulfill My Will by taking your stand on TRUTH, LOVE and HONESTY, and be worthy of participating in My Task. I give you all My blessings for spreading MY MESSAGE OF LOVE.” Meher BabaThis event was recorded live. To be first to be notified of a new video on this channel, please hit the red subscribe button, then the notifications bell. To join future live events, see www.babazoom.net. Please join our Facebook group: www.facebook.com/groups/meherbabafamily

Nov 7, 2021 Late Night Chat with Jeff Wolverton, focus on “Show and Tell” for Baba, Live on Zoom

We have some informal chat after every arti, the "post-arti party"! But twice a week, Jeff Wolverton joins us for some serious mining of the spiritual depths. Join us for spontaneous chat, more readings, songs, quotes, you never know what treasures will be uncovered! Topic: “Show and Tell” for Baba: our favorite sayings, poems, songs I thought it would be fun to hear some of your favorite poems, jokes, songs, sayings of Baba or particular writers, one of your own personal experiences that was meaningful to you or an insight that is helpful in your life with Baba—a potluck of anything and everything. Come to share and/or listen, In His love, Jeff To join the email list for Jeff's Chats: send an email request to babazoom77@gmail.comThis event was recorded live. To be first to be notified of a new video on this channel, please hit the red subscribe button, then the notifications bell. To join future live events, see www.babazoom.net. Please join our Facebook group: www.facebook.com/groups/meherbabafamily

Nov 2, 2021 Late Night Chat with Jeff Wolverton, focus on self-forgiveness, Live on Zoom

We have some informal chat after every arti, the "post-arti party"! But twice a week, Jeff Wolverton joins us for some serious mining of the spiritual depths. Join us for spontaneous chat, more readings, songs, quotes, you never know what treasures will be uncovered! Topic: Self-compassion, self-forgiveness, self-acceptanceDear folks of Baba, We have focused in other chats on how we respond to others for Baba’s sake. What about our attitude toward ourselves? What place do self-compassion, self-forgiveness and self-acceptance have in our inner life with Baba?What part do these play in combating a sense of unworthiness we might feel sometimes?Does Baba ever really disapprove of us?To what extent does self-criticism, which usually has to do with things in our recent and distant past, keep us from being fully present in the present moment?Is it possible to lower the standards we set for ourselves so that they relate more to where we actually are than where we would like to be ideally? That is, so that our standards are doable rather than being so out of reach that we continually fall short?It will be very interesting to hear how we answer and explore these questions.In His love, JeffTo join the email list for Jeff's Chats: send an email request to babazoom77@gmail.comThis event was recorded live. To be first to be notified of a new video on this channel, please hit the red subscribe button, then the notifications bell. To join future live events, see www.babazoom.net. Please join our Facebook group: www.facebook.com/groups/meherbabafamily

Oct 31, 2021 Late Night Chat with Jeff Wolverton, focus on your Baba stories, Live on Zoom

We have some informal chat after every arti, the "post-arti party"! But twice a week, Jeff Wolverton joins us for some serious mining of the spiritual depths. Join us for spontaneous chat, more readings, songs, quotes, you never know what treasures will be uncovered! Dear folks of Baba, This Sunday, Steve Berry will share his story of coming to Baba, along with many of the intimate times he spent beginning in the early 1970s with the mandali, including Adi K. Irani and Bhau Kalchuri. He has a very significant story of being with Adi while touring Andhra state in south India. He came to Baba in the early 1970s and was part of the young group in Los Angelos that gathered around Filis Frederick and Adele Wolkin, two of Baba’s close ones who came to Baba in the 1940s. He has many interesting stories and exchanges from his times with Baba’s mandali. I know you will enjoy spending time with Steve. In His love, JeffTo join the email list for Jeff's Chats: send an email request to babazoom77@gmail.comThis event was recorded live. To be first to be notified of a new video on this channel, please hit the red subscribe button, then the notifications bell. To join future live events, see www.babazoom.net. Please join our Facebook group: www.facebook.com/groups/meherbabafamily

Oct 24, 2021 Late Night Chat with Jeff Wolverton, focus on favorite Baba inspiration, Live on Zoom

An except from from the discourse on Readiness to Serve: The aspirant always has to be in readiness to serve the cause of humanity. He need not apply himself to any type of work irrespective of his capacity. He has to select that portion of work which he is qualified to do by virtue of his individual aptitude and abilities. But whatever service he can render by virtue of his capacity, he renders even when the circumstances are most trying. The ordeals through which he may have to pass are many, but the determination to serve whenever possible must remain unshaken… If he were to seek opportunities for himself to render service it would be a form of selfishness. In service which really counts in the spiritual life there can be no thought of the self at all…The self in all its forms has to be left entirely out of the picture. Service should spring out of the spontaneity of freedom if and when it is necessary; and it has to come in a co-operative spirit in which there is no insistence on the claims of the limited “I’.Some possible questions to ask ourselves. Which ones can you most relate to?:How could seeking opportunities to serve others be a form of selfishness?What does it mean to be in readiness to serve others?How can we distinguish between being ready to serve and wanting to FIX THINGS? i.e., intruding, or interfering.How do we keep from feeling or thinking, "I KNOW BEST”?What is the difference between doing good and acting out of the spontaneity of love?How do we determine when service is needed? What faculty discerns the need indicated in a situation?Is Baba nudging us?: LET THE HEAD RESPOND TO THE HEART, AND THEN ACT ACCORDINGLY. How do you see this at play in your life?If we take pride in our service, is it really service?How do you feel about those who are rarely helpful in situations where you need help?Does the “ideal" of service seem impossible because it is too far out of reach? Or do we evolve gradually, through trial and error, toward a life of service? Or is it a gift from Baba Himself?If SPONTANEITY is key to keeping one's service ‘free and unbinding,' how can we manage to BE spontaneous? Does being CONSCIOUS of doing service take away from its meaningfulness?Baba has said, “I give you opportunities to serve so you can draw closer to Me.”In His love, JeffWe have some informal chat after every arti, the "post-arti party"! But twice a week, Jeff Wolverton joins us for some serious mining of the spiritual depths. Join us for spontaneous chat, more readings, songs, quotes, you never know what treasures will be uncovered! To join the email list for Jeff's Chats: send an email request to babazoom77@gmail.comThis event was recorded live. To be first to be notified of a new video on this channel, please hit the red subscribe button, then the notifications bell. To join future live events, see www.babazoom.net. Please join our Facebook group: www.facebook.com/groups/meherbabafamily

Oct 3, 2021 Late Night Chat with Jeff Wolverton, focus ”Who’s to blame?” Live on Zoom

Dear Folks of Baba, Here is another quote from Baba that is thought-provoking and is sure to move us to explore our own inner experience of Him. It is a challenge to our everyday weakness of blaming ourselves and others. It is an excerpt from Baba's discourse on “The Questioning Mind” in the book, The Everything and the Nothing: One of you has said, ‘.I am doing my duty honestly, yet I am not happy.” Who is to be blamed for this? Does God take advantage of my weaknesses? I am happy for your frankness, but you have yet to come to the honesty which will show you that you cannot blame anyone for your condition. Whatever you want to be, that you become. However, if you want to blame anyone, blame me, for everything in the universe has come out of me and so I am the only one that can be blamed. But you have no idea of my love and compassion that sustains your very being. In love is infinite compassion and whatever happens is already tempered by compassion. You cannot understand this until you go beyond the reach of the mind. If at all I did take advantage of your weakness, it would only be for your advantage. Weakness is but a degree of strength. As Infinite Life I experience myself as everyone and everything; I enjoy and suffer through you to make you aware that you are Infinite.Some questions that might stir some thinking:Do you sometimes blame others, like I have, for the conditions you find yourself in?Do you think everything is being tempered by compassion as Baba says? Is it something you take on faith, or do you sometimes know this experientially?Do you have any blocks or resistances to holding Baba accountable for what happens? Or are you inclined to hold others accountable?Have you found in retrospect certain experiences were really in the end compassionate and helpful in your understanding of love?Have you found that experiences of suffering in your life turned out to contribute to your feeling more whole over time?What if there were no unpleasant or painful experiences. Would you grow and awaken? What if winter with its destruction were eliminated from the seasons, wouldn’t it upset the balance of nature.Does acceptance of "what is" lead to wholeness?Do you sometimes look upon your relationship with Baba as a contractual agreement: I’ll do this for you if you do that for me?Is being happy the goal?Do you sometimes think that God can be punitive as some religions depict Him? In His Love, Jeff We have some informal chat after every arti, the "post-arti party"! But twice a week, Jeff Wolverton joins us for some serious mining of the spiritual depths. Join us for spontaneous chat, more readings, songs, quotes, you never know what treasures will be uncovered! To join the email list for Jeff's Chats: send an email request to babazoom77@gmail.comThis event was recorded live. To be first to be notified of a new video on this channel, please hit the red subscribe button, then the notifications bell. To join future live events, see www.babazoom.net. Please join our Facebook group: www.facebook.com/groups/meherbabafamily